WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (all times local):
3:10 p.m.
President Donald Trump says he has “total confidence” in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
He told reporters in Las Vegas on Wednesday that a report that Tillerson called Trump a “moron” was “made up by NBC. They just made it up.”
Tillerson earlier did not deny the report, but later had a spokeswoman do so. Tillerson did deny the report’s account that he had considered quitting the administration in July. Trump made a politicized speech to the Boy Scouts of America. Tillerson was the president of the Boy Scouts for two years.
Trump spoke in Las Vegas after he met with first responders and victims of the mass shooting on a country music festival there on Sunday night.
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2:30 p.m.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert is denying that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called President Donald Trump a “moron.”
Her denial came after Tillerson himself declined an opportunity to refute a news report that he used the word to describe Trump after a Pentagon meeting in July.
Nauert said Tillerson had told her that he did not make the comment and she took him at his word.
Asked about an NBC News report that he had called Trump “a moron,” Tillerson had earlier told a reporter that he did not want to comment on “petty stuff.”
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12:55 p.m.
The White House says President Donald Trump remains confident in Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
White House Press Secretary Huckabee Sanders tells reporters aboard Air Force One that: “If the president doesn’t have confidence in somebody they will no longer remain in their position.”
Tillerson delivered a statement Wednesday denying that he ever considered abandoning his job as Trump’s top diplomat. He disputed what he called “erroneous” reports that he was on the verge of resigning this summer amid mounting policy disputes with the White House.
Tillerson, however, didn’t deny an NBC story that he had called the president a “moron” after a contentious July 20 meeting at the Pentagon.
Trump tweeted the story was “#FakeNews” and called on NBC to “issue an apology to AMERICA!”
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12:25 p.m.
Sen. Bob Corker, the Foreign Relations Committee chairman, says Secretary of State Rex Tillerson “is in an incredibly frustrating place.”
The Tennessee Republican tells reporters that Tillerson “ends up not being supported in the way that I would hope a secretary of state would be supported.”
Corker is one of Tillerson’s strongest supporters in Congress. He says he has no knowledge of any derogatory comments Tillerson may have made about Trump. Corker also declined to say whether Tillerson may have considered resigning.
The senator also says that Tillerson, along with Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, are “those people that help separate our country from chaos.”
Corker says, “There are other people within the administration, in my belief, that don’t.” He didn’t provide names.
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12:10 p.m.
An adviser to Vice President Mike Pence says the vice president never discussed the prospect of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson resigning from the Trump administration.
Pence aide Jarrod Agen says “any reporting to the contrary is categorically false.”
Pence’s office is pushing back against an NBC report that Tillerson considered resigning. Tillerson said at a news conference Wednesday that he never considered leaving his post.
The vice president is also contesting reports that Pence questioned U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s value to the administration.
Agen says Pence has known Haley for many years and “holds her in the highest regard.”
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11:30 a.m.
President Donald Trump is pushing back on a report that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson considered resigning and called the president a “moron.”
Trump tweets that the story by NBC News “has just been totally refuted” by Tillerson and Vice President Mike Pence. He calls it “#FakeNews” and says the network “should issue an apology to AMERICA!”
Tillerson says at a news conference that he never considered leaving his post. But he’s not denying that he called his boss a “moron.” Asked about the report, Tillerson says, “We don’t deal with that kind of petty nonsense.”
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11:20 a.m.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says a report that he called President Donald Trump his boss, “a moron” is “petty nonsense.”
But at a State Department news conference Wednesday, Tillerson did not deny that he had called his boss that name.
Asked about the report, Tillerson replied, “We don’t deal with that kind of petty nonsense.”
NBC News reported earlier in the day that Tillerson had called Trump “a moron” and threatened to quit after the president delivered a highly politicized speech to the Boy Scouts of America. Tillerson was president of the organization from 2010 to 2012, according to his State Department biography.
Tillerson said Wednesday he never considered resigning, adding, “I’m just not going to be part of this effort to divide this administration.”
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11:05 a.m.
Rex Tillerson says he has never considered leaving the post of secretary of state.
Tillerson said Wednesday that reports suggesting otherwise are “erroneous.”
He was giving a statement Wednesday after NBC News reported the former Exxon Mobil CEO had been on the verge of resigning this summer amid mounting policy disputes with the White House. NBC said the tensions came to a head around the time President Donald Trump gave a politicized speech in July to the Boy Scouts of America, an organization Tillerson once led.
NBC also said Tillerson referred to Trump as a “moron” after a July 20 meeting at the Pentagon with members of Trump’s national security team and Cabinet officials. NBC cited three anonymous officials familiar with the incident.
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